Ely was tucked safely in his den deep beneath the moor when Scald finally left to go find his mother. Ever since the new pups had arrived, the only time he could find her without one of them attached to her was during the night. Now he knew that she would want her sleep, but this was a pressing matter that could not wait. Freaking out was an understatement and it was clear on his face by the way the tight lines stretching from his eyes could be seen. Not wanting to disturb the brood that slumbered in the treehouse, he sent his spoonbill up to fetch her and meet her at the edge of the moor where the heather turned to soft grass. Pacing back and forth, Scald practically wore a line in the dirt by the time she would approach. Shallow breaths sucked in his sides as he stared in a bewildered fashion at his approaching mother. "How do I say 'I fucked up' without... saying it?" The coy smirk on his lips is tight, a fake sign of trying to say he was handling it when he really wasn't. Scald Fallen

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The bird landing on the verandah wasn't unusual. The kids had taken longer than usual to get down tonight, Gilda gnawing on Corsair's growing antler nubbins and the boy was using his dexterous paws to braid his sister's fur, until she bit too hard, and lightning quick it devolved into face biting, hair pulling and screaming. She needed to go for a walk to calm her own mind before trying to sleep, so it wasn't like Scald was waking her up with his request.

Once she was on the ground, she stretched and yawned, shaking any lingering tension from her shoulders before she made her way to the Moor. A familiar scent clung to the strands of her son's coat as she reached out to tug gently on the white tips of his cheek fur, a shoulder bump encouraging him to join her on an evening stroll, despite the crispness in the air. Clearly something had the boy on edge, and maybe moving would help him process his emotions. It often helped her after all.

"Can't be any worse than your sister picking a fight in the state she's in, and we both know that'll happen again," and again, and again. Deluge was nothing if not predictable in her insolence and disregard for her own wellbeing. Just like their father.

No, Scald was more like her, so this had to be something significant. She left the air between them open for him to voice his concerns, the relaxed set of her shoulders and her tail hanging loosely between her heels to encourage confidence that whatever he had to say wasn't likely to make her mad.

"Modesty"

His mother’s presence is welcoming as she reaches out to tug at the fur on his cheek. With her at his side, he relaxes, a sense of relief washing over him as he turns to starts walking beside her. At first there is silence for a few seconds, but then Modesty says something that has him chuckling.

“Nah, it ain’t worse than that,” Scald states, his head giving a light shake as his brows raise. Was his sister really that foolish that she would pick fights while pregnant? Had she not learned from Sparrow’s mistakes? Well, of course she didn’t. She’d been one of the ones to get booted by Azure on the beach too.

his face is screwed up for a second trying to calculate the math. Unless she found a stranger on the side of the road, there really was no other explanation. Or someone back at her pack was taking advantage, but it was a route he didn’t want to consider.

Not worse than didn't mean it wasn't on par, and Modesty quirked a brow and smirked but kept walking. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but if it's going to affect the pack, I'd appreciate a heads up." There was a small smile on her face, gaze drifting over the small herd of cattle and doing a quick head count. They were all there, so she didn't stop, someone would be by shortly to move them if they needed moving or feeding.

There were almost too many goats to get a headcount sometimes, and they popped up and over the wall so often she was content to see that there were some on this side of the Moor as they continued on their way, content to let the silence stretch between them until her son spoke his mind.

"speech"

His silence isn't entirely unjustified, but it's also not fair to keep his mother waiting with bated breath. Especially with her chastising words about effecting the whole pack. Yeah, that wasn't something he had actually thought about. Well, damn, what did this mean for the Raiders and the Syndicate? Were they meant to play nice with each other now or would he be the one forced to choose? Would he have to leave the Raiders and be banished to the frigid north? He really hated the cold. "Yea, sorry. Uh, Ely is pregnant," Scald says it outright, a sigh leaving his chest with the relief that washes over him. "I guess that ain' so bad considerin' Loogie slept with a Fatalis but then again that old man left Dread for dead anyway," his nose wrinkles at the memory of Sirius that day in the Battlefield. "I don' think it'll affect any one of us 'ere, but ya know I'll handle it if I gotta," he tries to give Modesty a cheeky smirk, but he's sure she can see right through his thin veil of barely hid stress. Scald Fallen

table coding by bunni ♥